Manx Schools among first to sign up to Girls and Sport Pledge

Isle of Man schools join Totally Runable and their Girls and Sport Pledge

Ballakermeen High School, Queen Elizabeth II High School and Bunscoill Rhumsaa Primary School have joined over 50 schools as they signed up to an initiative aimed at schools doing more for girls in sport.

The Girls and Sport Pledge launched by Manx born Natalie Jackson (nee Craine) and her business partner, ex Olympic sprinter Emily Freeman, founders of training and mindset company Totally Runable. It is completely free to schools and those who sign up receive a resource pack, certificate and sticker to display. Speaking about the pledge, Natalie said “we know from our research, and the work that we do, that girls are less confident about sport than boys. We also know that their confidence levels can be impacted by sending simple positive messages about sport.”

Natalie appeared on Manx Radio’s Women Today Programme ahead of the pledge launch in December 2018. Speaking then she said, “I would love to talk to more Manx schools about what they are seeing. I had a positive experience of sport in the Manx schools I went to but looking back there were elements of my experience that were gendered. My favourite sport was football, but I couldn’t play it in school. It didn’t cross my mind that I wasn’t playing it, but I was definitely being sent subtle messages about what I should and shouldn’t be doing, based on my gender. My gut feeling is that the Isle of Man are doing these things well. If that is the case, Manx schools should absolutely be part of the Pledge. The Girls and Sport pledge is for schools who are, or want to be, doing more for girls in sport”

Totally Runable’s Girls and Sport Pledge launched in December 2018 with an aim to enlist it’s first 100 schools in the coming months.